Brakes went this morning - what could it be?

[pds999]

Icy down here today and this morning when driving into town the brakes went. The pedal fixed rigid and wouldn't press at all and wouldn't brake. It had been happening intermittently the last week or so (only had the car 2 weeks) but I put it down to ice and the ABS system as it only did it for a second or so. But this morning it wouldn't right itself and it is fixed rigid.

Anyone have any ideas? It's with the garage now (the one luckily I was crawling by at the time) who thinks it might be water in the servo which has frozen as it is 0 deg here this morning. Whenever it has done it, it does seem to have been icy.

Anyone have any ideas?

[bora(ing) nick]

There is a well know problem of servo's failing due to water ingress. the water comes from the plenum chamber, which fills up with rain water due to the drainage holes being blocked by leaves...

Could possibly be that??

Nick

[pds999]

There is a well know problem of servo's failing due to water ingress. the water comes from the plenum chamber, which fills up with rain water due to the drainage holes being blocked by leaves...

Could possibly be that??

Nick

Absolutely, could well be that. I've done a bit of research and it seems to be quite common on A4's and Passats, especially in freezing temps when the water in the servo freezes. Any idea what the fix would be, new servo or simply draining the water and unblocking the drainage holes?

[bora(ing) nick]

Absolutely, could well be that. I've done a bit of research and it seems to be quite common on A4's and Passats, especially in freezing temps when the water in the servo freezes. Any idea what the fix would be, new servo or simply draining the water and unblocking the drainage holes?

New servo... there was a recall for the blocked drainage holes, so Audi MAY offer a discount as a gesture of good will?

Good Luck

Nick

[pds999]

New servo... there was a recall for the blocked drainage holes, so Audi MAY offer a discount as a gesture of good will?

Good Luck

Nick

If it was simply the plenum chamber drain blocked, couldn't unblocking that (with a wire down the hose I seem to recall one poster saying) fix the problem without the need to replace the whole servo?

[jonbaker]

New servo... there was a recall for the blocked drainage holes, so Audi MAY offer a discount as a gesture of good will?

Good Luck

Nick

So glad crasher told me about this as i noticed water dripping from the plenum chamber. Mine qualified for the recall

[Marco34]

Mine has this lovely problem a few years ago. I noticed it on my due to the nasty smell coming into the car. The water was becoming rank. Anyway, I drained 9litres if water out before I finally unblocked it.

3 months later my brake eventually wouldn't release. The server has rusted. New servo, but Audi did knock off £100.

Marco

[pds999]

Garage just phoned to say the plenum chamber isn't full of water and is draining ok. The servo is showing no signs of rust and typically the brake isn't hard now so the fault isn't appearing (damn intermittent faults!) He is going to investigate further tomorrow morning by removing the master cylinder and looking at the servo with an endoscope to try and detect any corrosion or rust inside. Perhaps it was the plenum drain tube blocked (which he has now unblocked hopefully) and that will be that, but have a feeling it will need a new servo or it will start to do it again.

I think I am going to sell this car. I have had it for 3 weeks and already have had the climate control go wrong, a slow puncture, the ESP light come on mysteriously (has now gone off) and the bloody brakes jam.

[jonbaker]

What model you got? I know how you feel, it seems all problems come at once. I've been on the verge of selling mine a few times, then when i fix it to sell i think, well its fixed now i'll keep it. Worst was just before xmas when i had to shell out £500 on a clutch and £300 on 4 tyres.

[pds999]

What model you got? I know how you feel, it seems all problems come at once. I've been on the verge of selling mine a few times, then when i fix it to sell i think, well its fixed now i'll keep it. Worst was just before xmas when i had to shell out £500 on a clutch and £300 on 4 tyres.

I've got an A4 Avant 1.9 TDi (2002 plate). I've had an A3 for 18 months without any problems at all (well except for the clutch pressure going for a few miles on one drive home which then righted itself). It's getting silly now, I only bought it 3 weeks ago and have already spent £600 on a new climate control unit (which has yet to fix the problem) and the servo may well need replacing too. Audi's it seems are very unreliable.